Chosen (25 page)

             
“I love your mother dearly, and I was willing to give up whatever it took to be with her.” He shook his head in disgust. “Unfortunately, that meant being stripped of my essence and Aura bloodline.”  A vision of the hostages’ essence leaving their bodies and colliding with Keto sent my blood boiling, as I understood what he was saying.

             
“Selene punished you by turning you human and keeping you in captivity?”

             
“That’s right.  Our relationship was overlooked by Selene and the Auras until we had you.” He squeezed my hand. “She saw it as an act against her and my ancestors.  I had contaminated our bloodline, which could not go unpunished.  I’m afraid that’s why she’s helping Keto try to defeat you.  She told me that my last punishment would be…to watch you die.”

             
“I have a feeling that I’ve thwarted her plan so far,” I answered with a certain hollowness. “Hopefully we’ll continue to do so.” The confidence in my voice didn’t make it to my stomach, which was doing somersaults right along with the rest of my internal organs.  I looked around to find the nearest trash can just in case.  He started to say something, but then stopped himself.  Another revelation came crashing down on me. “So that means I’m…half Aura and half Tyde?”

             
“Fortunately not,” he winked at me. “You are 100% Tyde.”

             
“But how’s that possible?”

             
“Your mother.” He smiled, “She and Amphitrite made sure that whatever Aura essence you received from my bloodline was removed soon after you were born.  With her ability of foresight, she was able to see things I couldn’t, and I’ve never challenged her ability to know what needed to be done.  She wanted to do everything she possibly could to protect you.”

             
“Wow,” I breathed.  Just when I thought I had everything about my past figured out, I learn yet another bombshell.  As his gray eyes sparkled, I realized that they must have been silver at one time.

             
“Were your eyes once silver?” I inquired, and he nodded acutely. “We saw a group of Auras in Paphos and they all had silver eyes, dark hair, and these odd orbs hanging around their necks.”

             
“The orb, as you call it, contains a single ray of moonlight.  It is given to every Aura at birth, since they are a product of the moon. It is essentially what your aquamarine gems and turquoise stones are to you and the Tyde Order.”

             
“That makes sense,” I contemplated. It seemed that whenever I got used to one new piece of news, I get sideswiped again.

             
“I imagine that this world can be quite overwhelming at times?”

             
“That’s an understatement,” I laughed. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

             
“It appears that you have a very strong circle of friends who care for you greatly.  That is important as a future leader.  All leaders must have a support system.  If they didn’t have that, they would flounder and fail.  So don’t ever forget - don’t ever look down on anyone unless you’re helping them up.”

             
“They’re pretty wonderful,” I smiled happily.

             
“And Finn?” he asked, notably uncomfortable. “His adoration for you is most obvious…” He frowned and raised an eyebrow as something dawned on him, “Do I need to have a talk with him?  Prime or not, he is courting my daughter.”

             
I couldn’t help but giggle at his use of the word ‘court’ as well as his attempt at being overprotective. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.  He almost ripped Zara a new one this morning when our training session ran over.”

             
“Well…” he sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes. “I may not be a spring chicken anymore, but I’m not above defending my daughter’s honor.”

             
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I laughed and hugged him again.

             
Before everyone returned to the cottage, I regurgitated the Cliff notes version of my last seventeen years on Earth, along with the last six months - which happened to be where my story took a sharp curve around a precarious mountain teeming with magical experiences and evil princesses.  He hung on my every word; laughing with me, crying with me, and becoming angry with me.  I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that my father was sitting next to me when the cottage door opened and my entourage filed in one by one; their faces changing from worried to relieved the moment they saw us sitting together with smiling faces.

             
Finn was last to enter; giving instruction to the Sons standing guard outside.  Dad stood and approached him valiantly.  I fought to suppress the amused smile that was creeping its way onto my face.

             
“I’m Anastasia’s father, Peleus.” Dad lifted his chin, making Finn’s eyes brighten.  I could tell he instantly liked him for the simple fact that he hadn’t treated him like the Prime, but more so like any other teenager whom he was suspicious of.

             
“My mother, Natasha, has spoken very fondly of you over the years.  She mentioned that you and Thetis helped watch after me,” Finn shook his hand and nodded respectfully. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

             
My heart glowed at the two of them having a conversation and the very non-threatening sparkle in my father’s eyes.  I walked up to Finn and wrapped an arm around him, prompting him to grin down at me.

             
“Did you see Finn as a baby?” I asked Dad, for the sole purpose of embarrassing Finn.  My dad rose to the challenge nicely.

             
“I sure did, in fact…” he smirked at Finn wickedly, “I even changed your diaper.” I clasped my hands together happily and peeked up at Finn, whose face was actually reddening.

             
“Is that…?” I pulled the hand down from Finn’s face with effort and teased him, “Are you blushing?”

             
“If the love of your life’s Dad had wiped your butt as a baby, you’d be blushing too,” he admitted with chagrin, making us laugh.

             
“Probably, but luckily you’re the one whose butt was wiped.” I pinched his side and he swiftly picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

             
“I think I heard Zara say that it’s time for Stasia’s next lesson,” he told Dad calmly, and I felt him nod his head respectfully once more; completely ignoring the squirming future goddess draped over his shoulder.

             
“I heard nothing of the sort!” I argued into his back as the blood rushed to my head.  As we walked away, I heard Dad chuckle and I waved to him.  Finn lowered me onto the couch beside Zara.

             
“She’s all yours,” he told her as he cut his eyes at me playfully.  I tried to trip him as he walked away, but he predicted my move and stepped over my leg easily.

             
Dad elected to stay for my next lesson, as did Natasha.  Willow insisted on preparing dinner up at the main house while we practiced.  Carmen took the place of Phoebe, who had announced that she had a date with Ian, and everyone else settled in to watch the show.  Zara kicked it off with a dissertation that left my head reeling.

             
“As we discuss visions of the future, or foresight, you need to keep in mind that the future is always shifting.  What you see in a vision today, is based on the events as they would happen should no extenuating circumstances occur.  That same vision would recalculate itself after you’d seen it, because your knowledge of the events to come could shift the paradigm - simply on the theory that your decisions could be affected by the new knowledge that you didn’t possess ten minutes before the vision occurred.”

             
“Do you think we could hear that again…possibly in English?” Dad furrowed his brow from the other couch.  Zara laughed, but strove to hide it under a cough…unsuccessfully.  Dad gave her an odd look before she continued.

             
“The future is a lot like the wind; constantly shifting and highly unpredictable,” she explained with an amused twinkle in her eye.  I noticed that she continued to glance at my Dad, much like she had looked at Olivia the day before.  She appeared to be soaking in his presence, putting every detail to memory. “According to Natasha, you’ve had several visions; however, were they all unprompted?”

             
“That’s right,” I confirmed.

             
“Unprompted visions can be pretty vivid, but they’re also unsettling.  The fact that you don’t know you’re in a vision is a huge part of that,” she interpreted, and reached into the valise to produce the vintage compass.  I observed the cautious way she handled it while Finn nodded his head in agreement. “This little guy is going to help with that.”

             
She handed me the compass and I stared blankly at its face when the needle failed to move a millimeter. “I think it’s broken.”

             
“I’m going to have you practice inducing a vision while holding the compass, and you’ll see real fast how it works,” she answered, while pulling the bronze key from the valise. “The bronze key represents the Future Plane.  It is the oldest of the keys.”

             
I held the unwieldy key in my palm and admired the intricate metal work.  I was dying to know what they were for.  They gave off a very powerful, ominous vibe that intrigued to me.  It was as if they had their own presence.

             
“You said that every tri-goddess has keys like these, but where do they come from?” I queried.

             
“Each key is cut from the same piece of metal - whether that be gold, silver, or bronze.  They’re all interconnected and they’re all identical,” she provided, and then promptly changed the subject. “The compass is also made of metal, but it will only work during a vision.  It will follow you into the vision and you will be able to use it.”

             
“So I can decide what I want to have a vision about?”

             
“You can guide the vision in the right direction…what you see may or may not be exactly what you were looking for, however,” she explained cryptically. “Now what I want you to do is lay back and close your eyes.”

             
“Is this dangerous in any way?” Dad asked Zara, his anxiety showing on his pinched features.

             
“Not at all,” she comforted him, and then diverted her attention back to me. “Certain events have more…energy than others, making them easier to access.  For example, it would be extremely difficult for you to prompt a vision about your dinner a week from now.  But it’d be much easier to prompt a vision about your Epiphany ceremony.  Make sense?”

             
“I think so,” I cracked open one eye. “Is it anything like prompting a reverie?  I’m good at that.” I heard Finn snicker and Zara smiled as well.

             
“Oddly enough, reveries are much more difficult,” she confirmed for me. “Visions are more like…falling asleep.  You just have to remember which way is up.”

             
I dug up some of the times I’d had unprompted visions, and realized that most of the time the world would tilt and I would just black out.  Is that what she meant?  Is that what the compass was going to do?  Help me find ‘up’?

             
“I feel like Alice in Wonderland,” I muttered, eliciting laughter from Carmen and Willow.

             
“For this lesson, I want you to choose a specific event that you’d like to see in your vision.  You’ll need to envision yourself there; concentrate on the smells, sounds, and people.  You’ll know it’s working when you feel yourself start to spin.”

             
I closed my eyes and became lost in what I envisioned my Epiphany ceremony would be like.  Since I had no idea where it was held or who would attend, I tried to think about the traditional white dress I would have to wear - the lavish feel of its many layers, and the way it made me feel like I was a part of something bigger.  I thought about my friends all sitting nearby, along with Finn, my Dad, and Zara.  I pictured the Nereids standing around the perimeter of the room, like they had in the circle of the courtyard at the Spiti of Achilles.

             
“You’ll feel a light tugging on your soul, and then you’ll feel yourself begin to spin.  That when you know…” Her voice trailed off as the world shifted drastically sideways and I held my breath.  A mass of colors whirled in front of my eyes, and at one point I thought I was going to throw up.  It was a merry-go-round from hell.  Just when I thought I couldn’t take it any longer, everything stopped and the world went dark.

             
The stone path beneath my bare feet chilled me to the bone while the night air swirled around me, filling my senses with the unrefined, earthy smell of witch hazel.  I was positioned on a stone path, lit by the moon above and surrounded by a garden wilted by the early morning frost.  To my left, the path wound down to a small cottage. To my right sat a large sprawling beach house with several lights on.  Why was I standing on a path in the middle of the night?  Shouldn’t I be inside the cottage?  Something in my hand caught my attention and I looked down to discover that I was holding the compass from my valise.  Why in the world?  Zara. Training. Visions. My mind quickly put the pieces together and my memory came crashing down on me.

             
I was having a vision!  I’d done it!  But…this was definitely not my Epiphany ceremony.  Apparently I earned a big F in directing my visions.  I studied the compass to see if it had magically begun to work.  The face had completely changed, and I squinted in the pale moonlight to read it.  There were actually four needles on the compass; each pointing in a different direction, but I couldn’t quite make out the small writing on the face.  One needle looked like it was pointing to A.M.?  That would make sense, considering I assumed it was in the early hours of morning.  Maybe that’s what the compass did for you: tell you not so much ‘where’ you are, but ‘when’ you are.  Interesting.

             
A sound near the larger house caught my attention, and I froze as a figure stepped up to a side door and knocked.  The awning she stood under drenched her in shadow, rendering it impossible for me to figure out she was.  I crept forward to get a better view.  She tilted her head slightly as if she heard a noise and I ducked down.  When a single moonbeam lit her profile, I felt my heart seize in my chest.  Keto.

             
After I collected my jaw from off of the ground and convinced my heart to stop racing, I quickly scooted up the path. Suddenly, the door opened and a cheerful Zara greeted her.

             
“Welcome, Keto!” she received her warmly. “Please, come in so we can chat.”  The first thing I noticed was that her accent had dissolved.  The southern drawl I’d become accustomed to was no more.  As Keto stepped inside, Zara probed the side yard with paranoid eyes before shutting the door.  I had to find a way to hear what they were ‘chatting’ about.  Channeling my inner Cat woman, I scurried up beneath one of the lit windows. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear the murmur of voices inside.  Nadia had been telling the truth!  Zara was definitely hiding something. 

             
If Selene hadn’t been able to see me during my vision of the essence ritual at the prison, maybe they wouldn’t be able to see me either.  I cowered in misery as the phrase ‘biting my lip’ turned painfully literal.  With my heart in my throat and the taste of blood on my lips, I stepped up to the side door and tried the knob.  It gave under the pressure of my grip and I painstakingly twisted it the rest of the way and pushed the door open.  I cringed and suffered a small heart attack when the movement elicited a hair-raising creaking sound from the hinges.  Mental note - always bring WD-40 to visions.

             
I cracked open the door just far enough so that I could squeeze my body in and slide through.  I tip-toed down the hallway several paces, and then peeked in the doorway that led to an adjacent room.  I snapped my head back and flattened against the wall when I realized that they were mere feet away.

             
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am,” Zara approved, her voice still void of any accent.

             
“I suppose it was only time,” Keto agreed grudgingly.

             
“Have you had word from Selene?” Zara asked casually.  I peeked around the corner and discovered that they had shifted away from the doorway.

             
“No,” Keto sighed, “I don’t suppose I will for some time to come.”

             
“I believe it is for the best,” Zara replied. “She will come around.”

             
“I’ve never understood her extreme views regarding the Auras, but I suppose she is entitled to protect her descendents.”

             
“Except for one.” Zara’s tone darkened.

             
“Sacrifices are the decision of the willing,” Keto’s gaze turned piercing as she met Zara’s eyes. “There is no blood on my hands or Nadia’s.”

             
“I have a feeling the Furies will not see it that way,” Zara warned resolutely.

             
“No, I imagine not.” Keto shrugged. “That is not my concern, however.  None of this is. Especially not her.”

             
“Anastasia is young in years, but will be a great leader,” Zara countered.  She was taking up for me?

             
“The Sirens are my only concern.” Keto crossed her arms in defiance and gazed out the window with a scowl.

             
“Come,” I heard shuffling as Zara spoke, “Allow me to show you something out in the garden.”  Uh oh.  In a flash I twisted the door knob and slipped back outside, already considering which tree I could hide behind.  Before I could even make it to the grass, I fell down the two stone steps that led up to the door.  Warm blood trickled down my arm and I reached up, just as pain pulsed up my shoulder.  I crawled partly behind a bush, just as the two women walked outside.  Something hard pressed against my butt and I wrenched the compass out of my back pocket.  In the light I could see the face clearly.  I laid down on my back and held it up to my eyes, just as I realized that one of the needles was pointing to what was clearly marked as ‘Up’.             

             
I was suddenly back inside the cottage, presumably in the Present, lying on the couch.  In an effort not to come unglued in front of everyone, I remained silent.  I carefully and deliberately scanned the living room.  A concerned Willow was sitting beside me, along with Finn.

             
“Where’s Zara?” I asked, not making any sudden movements in case my self-control up and ran away.

             
“She got called out for a disturbance on campus…something about two Tritons fighting over a Siren.  Go figure,” Carmen rolled her eyes.

             
“Convenient,” I muttered.  I spotted Dad sitting on the other couch, as I strained to pull myself upright and readjust the shirt that I had gotten twisted.  That’s when I noticed the blood.  I touched my arm gently to investigate how tender the cut still was.  Yep, still tender.

             
“We’ve been trying to wake you up,” Willow explained as she began to clean the wound. “We didn’t think blood was a good sign at all.”

             
“I just…fell down some steps.” I shrugged and forced a smile to show them I was fine. “I’m such a klutz sometimes.”  Finn grinned as Willow set to healing my cut with her hands.  The tingling felt amazing, as it crawled up my arm and relieved the pain.

             
“You did great,” Finn grinned at me proudly. “Did you see what you were expecting?”

             
“Yes and no.” I smiled back at him and my heart warmed with love.  I could tell that he knew something was off, but was refraining until I didn’t have an audience to analyze my every move.  I was hoping that he couldn’t tell that I’d completely failed at directing my vision.  I also needed time to digest what I had seen.  I rubbed my temples as a headache started to come on. “I think I need to rest.”

             
“But I made dinner up at Zara’s house!  Aren’t you hungry?” Willow frowned.

             
“Not really,” I answered, and my stomach promptly betrayed me by growling.  Willow put her hands on her hips.

             
“You need food, whether you want it or not,” she scolded me.

             
“How about someone brings you a plate down?” Finn suggested, and I sent happy vibes toward him; wishing that I could just spend time with only him for a couple of days and forget about everything else that was happening.  Unfortunately, avoiding death threats wasn’t an option.

             
“That would be wonderful,” I grinned at her sheepishly.  At that, everyone began to gather their things and stood up to leave for Zara’s.  I gave Dad a long hug and realized that I didn’t want to let him go - but I knew that I wasn’t the only one who needed rest. His eyes had sunken in and he’d become pale since I’d been in my vision.  The last to leave were Carmen and Willow, who let it be known how worried they were about me.  Finn put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

             
“The Sons will be right outside all night, so you’re completely safe here,” Finn reassured me.

             
“I was hoping you’d stay with me.” My request came out more desperate than I had intended, but I’d been hoping to tell him about my vision. “I need to talk to you about something.”

             
“I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning,” he explained.  The hesitancy and compassion in his deep blue eyes told me that he didn’t want to leave, anymore than I wanted him to. “My father has requested my presence for a meeting tonight.  I can’t miss it.”

             
“It’s alright, I’ll probably just sleep all night anyway.” I tried to hide my disappointment, but I’m not sure I fooled anyone.  At least this would give me some time to think and collect my thoughts.

             
“I’ll be back before the sun comes up, I promise,” he assured me with another kiss before reluctantly leaving the cottage.

             
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Willow asked me, unconvinced.

             
“You know we can tell when that head of yours is about to pop off,” Carmen pressed with presumption.

             
I sighed and gave in easily to their interrogation, “My vision wasn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be.  I’m just not sure Zara is who she claims to be, but I don’t know how to find out or if it even matters at this point.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I feel like I’ve got a million problems piling up and I’m being forced to pick and choose which ones to worry about.”

             
“Well, the most important problem right now is how to keep you alive,” Willow told me sternly. “Everything else can wait.”

             
“She’s right,” Carmen said. “You need to concentrate on your training, and figure out how to keep from getting whacked when Keto and Nadia come a-knocking.”

             
“You are
not
helping.” Willow cut her eyes at Carmen and then regarded me once again, “You do have one advantage, however.”

             
“What’s that?” I asked.

             
“Kick ass friends.” She smiled widely before continuing, “We’re about to eat up there, and Zara isn’t home yet.  We’ll perform some reconnaissance work and report back.”

             
“Just be careful,” I warned them. “If she’s talking to Keto, we’re really playing with fire.”

             
“Keto?”

             
“In my vision, Keto had gone to Zara’s house to meet up and talk,” I explained, and their eyes grew wide. “So just be careful.”

             
“We will,” Carmen hugged me. “Now, you get some sleep.  Doctor’s orders.” 

             
Finally alone, I collapsed onto the couch and massaged my temples.  I wondered if a person’s head really
could
pop off.  It seemed feasible.  I closed my eyes and laid back, hoping all the answers would magically appear in my thoughts.  Instead, the world faded away as sleep took me hostage.